7 Sep 2015
Dr Hallvard Sommerseth, Head of the Veterinary Department
at the United Arab Emirates Equestrian Federation (EEF), has been
provisionally suspended as an FEI Official by the FEI Secretary General,
Sabrina Zeender, for non-compliance with FEI Rules and Regulations and
his involvement in a number of events from which duplicate results were
submitted to the FEI. The Secretary General’s decision has the full
support of the FEI President, Ingmar De Vos.
The provisional
suspension, which is in accordance with Article 156.1 of the FEI General
Regulations and which comes into immediate effect, is for an indefinite
period. For the duration of the suspension, Dr Sommerseth may not take
part or be involved in the organisation of any FEI competitions or
events, or any event under the jurisdiction of a National Federation.
The
suspension has been imposed as a result of Dr Sommerseth’s consistent
failure to comply with FEI Rules and Regulations over a period of
several years. The FEI Secretary General stated that Dr Sommerseth had
failed to observe the FEI Rules and Regulations while acting as an FEI
Official at a number of FEI international Endurance events over a
three-year period from April 2012 to February 2014. By allowing the
events to take place without accurate timing systems he failed in his
responsibility as Technical Delegate and this failure was a contributory
factor in duplicate results being submitted to the FEI. In addition to
his role as a Technical Delegate, Sommerseth also acted as a Ground Jury
member at several of the events.
The suspension is based on the
findings in a report produced by the Equestrian Community Integrity
Unit, which was tasked by the FEI Secretary General earlier this year to
investigate duplicate results that had been submitted to the FEI from
Endurance events in the UAE. According to the report, timing systems
were not used at these events and accurate timings were not taken of
each competitor’s phases, which must be done in accordance with the FEI
Endurance rules. Instead, the times submitted in the official results
provided to the FEI were copied from other events.
Dr Sommerseth
was a member of the FEI Bureau from 1998 to 2007 during his term as
Chair of the Endurance Committee, and subsequently became an Honorary
Bureau Member. He was also a member of the FEI Veterinary Committee from
April 2007 until November 2011. He became a course director for
Endurance Judges, Technical Delegates and Veterinarians in September
2009, and was also a 4* Endurance course designer (from January 2013), a
4* Endurance Veterinary Treatment Official (January 2012) and a 4*
Endurance Judge (January 2009). He has been an Official Veterinarian for
Jumping, Dressage and Endurance, and a 4* Endurance Technical Delegate,
since January 2009.
Dr Sommerseth has 30 days to appeal the decision to the FEI Tribunal from the date of notification (1 September 2015).
Under
the terms of the legally binding Agreement signed by the FEI and the
Emirates Equestrian Federation (EEF) at the end of July, the EEF agreed
that any sanctions imposed by the FEI would also be implemented and
enforced at national level.
The events and duplicate results in
the UAE were used specifically for qualification purposes. The FEI IT
Department is currently removing all such events from the FEI calendar
and deleting all duplicate results. Any horse/rider combinations that
used these duplicate results for qualification for subsequent events,
and were therefore ineligible, have already either been or will be
disqualified.